On the Espionage Act charges against Edward Snowden

[Genx87]

Glenn Greenwald as usual writes a concise well thought piece on the absurdity of this administration charging Snowden with espionage while it leaks information all the time to benefit itself. As well he discusses how this administration has stifled investigative journalism with its record of using this act to charge more than all previous presidents combined.

Prior to Barack Obama's inauguration, there were a grand total of three prosecutions of leakers under the Espionage Act (including the prosecution of Dan Ellsberg by the Nixon DOJ). That's because the statute is so broad that even the US government has largely refrained from using it. But during the Obama presidency, there are now seven such prosecutions: more than double the number under all prior US presidents combined. How can anyone justify that?

For a politician who tried to convince Americans to elect him based on repeated pledges of unprecedented transparency and specific vows to protect "noble" and "patriotic" whistleblowers, is this unparalleled assault on those who enable investigative journalism remotely defensible? Recall that the New Yorker's Jane Mayer said recently that this oppressive climate created by the Obama presidency has brought investigative journalism to a "standstill", while James Goodale, the General Counsel for the New York Times during its battles with the Nixon administration, wrote last month in that paper that "President Obama will surely pass President Richard Nixon as the worst president ever on issues of national security and press freedom." Read what Mayer and Goodale wrote and ask yourself: is the Obama administration's threat to the news-gathering process not a serious crisis at this point?

But that's a far cry from charging Snowden, who just turned 30 yesterday, with multiple felonies under the Espionage Act that will send him to prison for decades if not life upon conviction. In what conceivable sense are Snowden's actions "espionage"? He could have - but chose not - sold the information he had to a foreign intelligence service for vast sums of money, or covertly passed it to one of America's enemies, or worked at the direction of a foreign government. That is espionage. He did none of those things.

The irony is obvious: the same people who are building a ubiquitous surveillance system to spy on everyone in the world, including their own citizens, are now accusing the person who exposed it of "espionage".

The Obama administration leaks classified information continuously. They do it to glorify the President, or manipulate public opinion, or even to help produce a pre-election propaganda film about the Osama bin Laden raid. The Obama administration does not hate unauthorized leaks of classified information. They are more responsible for such leaks than anyone.

What they hate are leaks that embarrass them or expose their wrongdoing. Those are the only kinds of leaks that are prosecuted. It's a completely one-sided and manipulative abuse of secrecy laws. It's all designed to ensure that the only information we as citizens can learn is what they want us to learn because it makes them look good. The only leaks they're interested in severely punishing are those that undermine them politically. The "enemy" they're seeking to keep ignorant with selective and excessive leak prosecutions are not The Terrorists or The Chinese Communists. It's the American people.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/22/snowden-espionage-charges

 

[Bowfinger]

Good piece. Obama and his administration deserve to be hammered for this. These leaks wouldn't be necessary had Obama kept his commitments to being open and transparent with Americans. He has failed, and failed badly in that respect (just like almost everyone else in Washington D.C.). Obama, Congress, and civil servants everywhere work for us, and are accountable to us. While I understand just how inconvenient that can be, what with pesky citizens looking over your shoulder and demanding to know what you're up to, too damn bad. If you can't accept that "burden", stay the hell out of government.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Since Day 1 Edward Snowden has been nothing but a noble Patriot in my eyes. Anyone who says otherwise is just another puppet of the Obongo Admin.

Very good piece indeed.

 

[Incorruptible]

Edward Snowden is a patriot. The government is violating the 4th Amendment and he did the right thing exposing them. He gave up everything and this is how obama thanks him.

As usual people will still defend obama though.

 

[sm625]

Hitler could not take over Germany without the force of law behind him. Not to mention a few million sniveling little pathetic minion scumbags who love licking boots and never actually thinking for themselves.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Edward Snowden is a patriot. The government is violating the 4th Amendment and he did the right thing exposing them. He gave up everything and this is how obama thanks him.

As usual people will still defend obama though.

Sorry Incorruptible, but both sides are guilty here. Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the playing field have been going on the media and saying he is anti-american, and betraying the American people -

Yet... these are the fundamentals America was built on

 

[unokitty]

An open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union to President Obama:

To President Obama:

We stand opposed to any attempt to treat Edward Snowden as a traitor. Our government must also not pursue the case against him outside the ordinary course of American justice. He is entitled to the rule of law and constitutional protections that so many before us died to defend.

Snowden is innocent until proven guilty before a court of law and he must be afforded all of his rights as an American citizen. If he is brought to an American court, he must be afforded every opportunity to defend himself and convince a judge that what he did was justifiable and patriotic, even if he is charged with violating laws that themselves pose a threat to our democracy.

Finally, we say as Americans that we are tired of seeing liberty sacrificed on the altar of security and having a handful of lawmakers decide what we should and should not know. We are tired of living in a nation governed by fear instead of the principles of freedom and liberty that made this nation great.

Uno

 

[waggy]

i find it hard to call what he did treason. when he is pointing out the government breaking the law and Constitution? sorry no.

 

[bshole]

but both sides are guilty here. Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the playing field have been going on the media and saying he is anti-american, and betraying the American people

Yeah when it comes to essential freedom, both sides love to trample all over it.

 

[PokerGuy]

Could it be? Is it possible that some of the fools who believed obummers lies about "transparency in government" and being "open" and hope and change and all that garbage are finally starting to understand that they've been had? Not only is this idiot just as bad as those preceding him in his office, he's much much worse.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Good piece. Obama and his administration deserve to be hammered for this. These leaks wouldn't be necessary had Obama kept his commitments to being open and transparent with Americans. He has failed, and failed badly in that respect (just like almost everyone else in Washington D.C.). Obama, Congress, and civil servants everywhere work for us, and are accountable to us. While I understand just how inconvenient that can be, what with pesky citizens looking over your shoulder and demanding to know what you're up to, too damn bad. If you can't accept that "burden", stay the hell out of government.

Totally agree. Very well said, btw.

 

[Remobz]

As far as I am concerned I think he is a traitor to the American people.

 

[Atreus21]

Snowden should be prosecuted for betraying the rule of law by uncovering government abuses of the rule of law.

 

[Jaskalas]

As far as I am concerned I think he is a traitor to the American people.

You must not value Liberty or Privacy then. Snowden stood to inform us so that we may protect those cherished values against those who trespass. He informed us that Bush's war of terror against the American people continues to this day, and Obama has affirmed that he stands strongly behind such policies.

Are you not tired of being molested at the airport, of having your medical records exposed, of innocent war veterans being gunned down in their own homes by militarized police, of having any shred of Liberty and Privacy ripped away?

It takes an informed public to say no. Snowden informed us when no one else would. That makes him a hero. Stand with your country's values, its civil liberties. Stand with the American people against our corrupt and fascist government.

Do not stand as a traitor against everything we hold dear, as those in power currently do.

 

[Black Octagon]

i find it hard to call what he did treason. when he is pointing out the government breaking the law and Constitution? sorry no.

Was the US government actually "breaking the law" though, and if so what law(s)? Honest question btw. I'm not American.

 

[Genx87]

Was the US government actually "breaking the law" though, and if so what law(s)? Honest question btw. I'm not American.

That depends on what you consider the law. As it stands currently the govt has passed a law that grants itself the capability to take this information. But that doesnt make it lawful. It would need to be challenged in court and pass the constitutional litmus test. But the issue is these programs when challenged the govt has the case tossed based on being of sensitive state secrets. In other words the govt has built a perfect end around to deny the people the ability to have the law determined if it is legal.

 

[z1ggy]

What I never got is all these other countries riot and raise hell when their governments fuck up...Here we have our own government spying on us illegally, and have to potential to seriously ruin people's lives if they so chose to.

Tell me again why huge amounts of people aren't in the streets protesting and breaking shit?

It's because we bend over and take it as a collective people, and slowly but surely we will become accustomed to losing our rights.

 

[Genx87]

What I never got is all these other countries riot and raise hell when their governments fuck up...Here we have our own government spying on us illegally, and have to potential to seriously ruin people's lives if they so chose to.

Tell me again why huge amounts of people aren't in the streets protesting and breaking shit?

It's because we bend over and take it as a collective people, and slowly but surely we will become accustomed to losing our rights.

We live comfortable lives that has turned us into being apathetic. If these programs affected our ability to get an iPhone or watch American Idol. All hell would break loose.

 

[Jaskalas]

We live comfortable lives that has turned us into being apathetic. If these programs affected our ability to get an iPhone or watch American Idol. All hell would break loose.

You can have iPhones and American Idol, just hand over the Bill of Rights.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

That depends on what you consider the law. As it stands currently the govt has passed a law that grants itself the capability to take this information. But that doesnt make it lawful. It would need to be challenged in court and pass the constitutional litmus test. But the issue is these programs when challenged the govt has the case tossed based on being of sensitive state secrets. In other words the govt has built a perfect end around to deny the people the ability to have the law determined if it is legal.

Yep. In fact Obama, Feinstein and others have effectively prevented accountability by making it impossible to determine if illegal activities are occuring. It's a free pass for abuse.

 

[z1ggy]

We live comfortable lives that has turned us into being apathetic. If these programs affected our ability to get an iPhone or watch American Idol. All hell would break loose.

Yup that's the problem. I have a friend who when I asked about this said he didn't care because despite the fact he may or may not have been spyed on, nothing in his life changed. It's sad because that's EXACTLY what the goverment would want us to say. As long as they don't directly change the average American's life, the people as a whole will allow whatever activity to continue.

 

[fskimospy]

That depends on what you consider the law. As it stands currently the govt has passed a law that grants itself the capability to take this information. But that doesnt make it lawful. It would need to be challenged in court and pass the constitutional litmus test. But the issue is these programs when challenged the govt has the case tossed based on being of sensitive state secrets. In other words the govt has built a perfect end around to deny the people the ability to have the law determined if it is legal.

Well the law is quite clear and Snowden obviously has to be prosecuted. It would be incredibly irresponsible of the government to simply let him go. If you don't punish people for violating their oaths and countless laws against the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, you will quickly see people lose respect for those laws and that's a bad idea. I do 100% agree with the ACLU however that there better not be any extrajudicial shenanigans.

In terms of what Snowden released (at least the NSA stuff, not that retarded diplomatic crap he put out), what he did was incredibly courageous and absolutely commendable. I hope he gets away with it. I also hope that this leads to more public scrutiny of how the government misuses the classification system to avoid outside scrutiny. (honestly, that's probably the most important part after the actual spying) It is really shitty to see Obama fall victim to the same problem that his predecessor had in regards to this abuse.

So yeah. I agree with Greenwald on the abuse of secrecy powers, etc, but that's no reason for the government not to pack Snowden away in prison for a very long time.

 

[BoberFett]

Well the law is quite clear and Snowden obviously has to be prosecuted. It would be incredibly irresponsible of the government to simply let him go. If you don't punish people for violating their oaths and countless laws against the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, you will quickly see people lose respect for those laws and that's a bad idea.

Lack of respect for laws is in no way tied to prosecution of offenders. Please prove otherwise.

 

[fskimospy]

Lack of respect for laws is in no way tied to prosecution of offenders. Please prove otherwise.

I have no idea what you're trying to say right now.

 

[Oldgamer]

I found this article to make some very good points on this subject of Snowden:

NSA Now Revealing A Lot More About What It Does Than Snowden Leaks Did; So Is That Harming America?


One of the key refrains that has come out from those who are unhappy about the revelation of details around the NSA's surveillance efforts is that Edward Snowden's leaks are somehow harmful to America. During hearings about all of this, NSA boss Keith Alexander claimed that "Americans will die" because of these sorts of leaks. But... between those same hearings and other revelations from the administration and Congress, we're actually learning much more about the various programs directly from the government, as information is now being "declassified." And, apparently, President Obama is asking the NSA and the Justice Department to look into declassifying even more. So while the initial shove to declassify information may have come via Snowden, the stuff that we're really learning about is coming through revelations following Snowden's leaks -- revelations that never would have happened without his leaks.

So that raises a fairly basic question: if Snowden is somehow a traitor and putting lives at risk... why isn't the other information we're actually learning about the programs equally as problematic? The real answer seems to be that the information Snowden leaked does not harm us at all, but has simply revealed that the government has kept classified information from the American public that never should have been classified at all. The fact that only now are they looking to declassify it (and then doing so) shows pretty clearly that the information was improperly classified in the first place.